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Women's Tennis Pulls Off Upset in the Desert

TUCSON, Ariz. - The No. 51 Oregon women's tennis team scored a big upset on the road, giving No. 16 Arizona its first loss of the season, 4-3. The Ducks (8-2, 1-1) won the doubles point and three more singles matches to win at Arizona for what is believed to be the first time.

'I'm so proud of what the team did,' Oregon head coach Nils Schyllander said. 'I think they really came together and they were just very determined.'

Oregon got off to a 1-0 lead by taking two of the three doubles matches. Sophomore Ester Bak teamed with senior Monika Gieczys to defeat the No. 25 tandem of Debbie Larocque and Maja Mlakar, 8-2, at the No. 2 position. After Courtney Nagle and Daria Panova were unable to win at No. 1, the doubles point came down to the No. 3 position. Freshmen Anna Leksinska and Jamie Marshall beat Arizona's pair, 9-7, to grab the doubles point for the Ducks.

'Two freshmen clinching the doubles point for us was huge,' Schyllander said.

The momentum carried over into singles play for the Ducks, as Oregon won just enough singles matches. No. 28-ranked Panova lost at No. 1 for just the second time this season to Emilie Scribot, and both teams each won two more matches to tie the overall score, 3-3. The match came down to No. 3 singles, where Nagle defeated No. 68 Diane Hollands, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.

'Courtney just came up really big when we needed her,' Schyllander said. 'She did it by just taking over. She played big tennis when she needed to.'

Nagle found herself down 5-4 in the third set before taking the final three games of the match. She closed out the match by winning the final two games at love.

Gieczys knocked off No. 31 Mlakar at No. 2 in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, for her second win of the day. Bak, Gieczys' doubles partner for the first time this season, completed her unblemished weekend by winning at the No. 6 position, 6-0, 6-2. Bak won her doubles and singles matches against Arizona, as well as her singles match against Arizona State.

'Ester really stepped up to the challenge, and going 3-0 this weekend really shows that,' Schyllander said. 'She really took a big step forward this weekend.'

Oregon returns home this weekend for a pair of matches against the Washington schools. The Ducks take on No. 22 Washington Saturday at noon, followed by a Sunday match against No. 43 Washington State, also at noon. Both matches will take place at the Student Tennis Center and live scoring will be available at www.GoDucks.com.